With the rage that is currently Super X-Fi, it's easy to think simulated surround processing in headphones was non-existent until Creative came along...especially when reading most of the current reviews.

I do not profess to have in-depth knowledge of the relevant tech, but I have used (and burnt cash on) enough devices to know that the out-of-the-head headphones audio experience has been around for the last 20 years. At least.

So to help provide proper perspective, here's a round-up of virtual surround technologies for headphones, based on what can be found by Google truly....(with some of my own opinions on things. This is not a wiki page)

The overlord of headphone surround tech currently. Their technology is licensed on tonnes of devices (see link above for non-exhaustive list). But as far as I know, never on Creative products (Note: Dolby Digital is not Dolby Headphone). And I have been looking. Probably why Mr Sim said that he's been developing this tech for 20-ish years (which so happens to be around the time Dolby Headphone was commercially available)? He's been reluctant to license it from Dolby all this while. Kudos to him for finally finding some researcher to make one that he can patent.

Of course, other than Dolby and Creative, other companies are in this space. Although it can be confusing sometimes with the different marketing terms thrown around: Virtual surround, 3d audio, spatial audio, etc etc

Also, from what I can hear, Dolby Headphone and Dolby Atmos for Headphones are 2 separate techs. The former takes in more general audio sources, while the latter is used to specifically support Dolby Atmos encoded tracks. But I do not know this for sure.

Creative Super X-Fihttps://www.sxfi.com/tech/
Latest challenger to the Dolby Headphone throne. Currently the only headphone amp that offers headphone virtual surround processing for Windows/Mac/Android/iOS/PS4/Switch, and personalized settings for users.

Creative also acknowledges that

Quote:

Why isn't Super X-Fi technology similar to standard 3D headphone audio?
3D sound has been around for years, it is nothing new. But whether these have gained any traction is clear.

3D sound has traditionally needed specifically supported content to give a reasonable experience. Attempting to use 3D audio processing on content not specifically made for 3D, such as standard stereo or mono tracks, often results in the audio becoming muddy and lacking clarity. 3D audio companies have traditionally taken an approach of a generic one-size-fits-all approach, resulting in there being no single optimal way for everyone to enjoy 3D audio.

...Except that the end result is the same, that everyone is trying to trick the listener into thinking that the audio is around them. Or speakers placed in front of them. Different terminology and methods, but everyone is after the same goal. And when the goal is the same, then we should judge all the tech in the same way.

The marketing jargon is so familiar, even down to saying that it's not / different from virtual surround...

Quote:

Out Of Your Head is advanced audio software that replicates the experience of listening to high-end speakers using only headphones. The listener can listen to audio with the sound of different speakers and home theater systems with the affordability, privacy, and portability of just headphones. The sound is no longer inside your head, like conventional headphones—it comes from “out of your head,” as it does when you are listening to speakers and home theater systems.

Out Of Your Head is a breakthrough in audio processing software for headphones. It allows the listener to experience their music or movie as if they were actually sitting in the room with the speakers that were measured—but without having to actually be there. Think of it as audio “virtual reality.” If you close your eyes while listening to Out Of Your Head, you can “hear” the exact location of each of the 8 speakers in the room around you. You can even hear the sound reflecting off the walls. You can hear the difference between different models and brand of speakers.

Unlike traditional or existing “virtual surround-sound” processing and hardware that is currently available, Out Of Your Head does not simulate or create a virtual sound environment. Existing technologies do work to some extent in getting the sound sources out of your head, but they are far from accurate. Out Of Your Head plays back the sound exactly as you would hear it if you were actually sitting in the room with the speakers.

My experience with SXFi was limited to the testing at Creative HQ, both with my own in-ears and the Emu Teak. Against the Dolby Headphone and the Sony Xperia headphone surround, it did not significantly gave me a closer experience to real life speaker systems. But it does have a better amp for the higher impedance headphones and can support a lot more devices.

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HTRF - Head-related transfer functionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-r...nsfer_function
Essentially the algorithm(s) that process the audio to simulate the surround effect, and give people that out of the head effect. Dolby bought theirs from Lake Technology (or so wiki says), Creative rolled their own, and maybe sprinkled some machine learning on top to account for the ear shapes.

Conclusion? By all means go forth and conquer the world if you can Creative. Let's hope in the coming days you can focus on improving the tech and actually be better than what Dolby has to offer, and convince the people who knows better.

This cheap Logitech audio adapter has both Dolby Headphone and DTS Headphone X? That is amazing.

Btw, is the output limited to 16bit or 24bit?

Hmm...I can play 24bit / 96hz audio, but no idea if any resampling is done in the dongle. Note that this is positioned as part of the Logitech G430 gaming setup though. The amp section is adequate for normal headphones / in-ears, but probably not going to cut it for high impedance ones.

Ok tried it! But their 3d surround didn't give the out-of-head effect. It sounded like the sound changed after turning it on, sure, but I wouldn't say it gave a convincing simulation of speakers. The audio was still blasting in my ears.

And their non-3d surround mode was way worse in amplitude than other android music players. Maybe they intentionally designed it that way so that people get awed by the change when 3d surround is turned on. Some fishy business going on....

When you're wearing headphones, you'll also notice more of a spacial sound — i.e., you hear a little echo and width that makes it sound like you're listening to speakers in a large room, rather than having headphones directly on your ears. If you...

It would seem that they have incorporated Dolby Atmos for Headphones into the phone. But I would still suggest to try out the SXFi amp so you can make your own conclusions.

Also, based on what I can hear, Dolby Headphone and Dolby Atmos for Headphones are 2 separate techs. They do not sound similar. The former takes in more general audio sources, while the latter is used to specifically support Dolby Atmos encoded tracks. But I do not know this for sure.

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